Polish Parliament rejects confidence in ultra-conservative prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki and thus gave the green light for the pro-European Donald Tusk to return to power. The fifth economy of the European Union (EU). Morawiecki’s party Law and Justice (PiS) was the force with the most votes in the general elections last October, receiving only 190 support among Sejm deputies; that was four fewer than his own party’s support. 266 MPs opposed the requested vote of confidence. So, a clear opposition victory considering what they had between them Civil Platform (PO) Tusk and his centrist allies Third Way And middle left In total, they reached 248 seats.
Parliament’s Sejm vote was seen as another step in the series of delaying maneuvers by the “hawkish” leader PiS Jaroslaw Kaczynskito delay relief. It was assumed that because they did not have a majority and had no allies, the ultraconservatives would not be able to achieve the required majority. Tusk was already supported in the campaign by partners with whom he will now share the government. It is up to Parliament to approve his candidacy, which will be followed tomorrow by a new vote of confidence in his government, which has been virtually in place since he presented it last Friday. He is expected to take office as prime minister next Wednesday. President Andrzej DudaAlthough he was originally from PiS, he officially suspended his militancy when he became President in 2015.
The pile of distractions in the hands of PiS
The Sejm session took place two weeks after Morawiecki was sworn in as head of a government that had no chance of success. Thus, the pantomime atmosphere that this transition in Poland has adopted since the October 15 election night is deepened. One minute after the schools closed, Tusk raised his arms in victory as he and his partners had gained the necessary majority. However, President Duda claimed that PiS was the force that received the most votes and entrusted the formation of the government to Morawiecki.
“Saying goodbye to that team is a waste of money and time,” Tusk lamented. It was reported in the Polish media that after the PiS manoeuvres, they tried to erase traces and documents on suspicious matters or distribute advantageous positions. They were appointed last week 76 new judgesSix from the Supreme Court, in the middle of the hearing politicization of justice This reform derives from the judicial reform that PiS initiated in 2015 and consolidated during its eight years in power.
Duda accelerated deadlines in each successive step. Regardless, Tusk has an appointment to be sworn in before Duda on Wednesday. So when it’s time to go New Polish leader to the European Union summit (EU) This closes the Spanish presidency.
The decline of the far right in Europe
Poland thus leaves the bloc of Eurosceptics and extreme nationalists in Eastern Europe that PiS shares with the Hungarians Victor Orban and this has made community negotiations on immigration, human rights and social rights very complicated. Marking the eight years of the “PiS era” constant conflict Amid clashes over judicial reform, with the European Commission (EC) coming close to blocking post-pandemic funds from Warsaw. In the same vein, they followed their harassment of the media and LGTBI groups or minimal restrictions on legal abortion.
Tusk, who was head of the Polish government between 2007 and 2014 and then chaired the European Council until 2019, is expected to return Poland to the pro-European path. But the actual head of PiS, who is responsible for signing laws and amendments, will have to live with Duda. The next presidential elections are in 2025. He will also need to see how to navigate controversial judicial reform under ultra-conservatives.
On the same Monday, the Polish Constitutional Court sent a signal to Tusk: after several postponements, a few hours before the Sejm session, it issued a decision on the daily fine of half a million euros imposed by the European Justice for the protection of the Constitution. Túrow mine is open. The trigger was a lawsuit filed by the neighboring Czech Republic against a highly polluting coal mine. Now the Polish court, which is close to PiS, has declared the sanction unconstitutional, so Poland under Tusk must stop paying it, despite instructions from Brussels.
“PiS had eight years to damage the Polish state. The new Tusk government has a big task ahead and it will take years to reverse this situation,” says Thomas Behrens, an expert at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, an institution affiliated with the German Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the party of former Chancellor Angela. Merkel is now the leading force in the German opposition. Besides their influential position in the judiciary, PiS will continue to control public radio and television and reference media after reshaping the media landscape to their convenience.